Friday, April 24, 2015

Rainbow Magic and Apple Pies

The colder it gets, the more comfort food sensitive I get…lol…last week it was the whisky cake , this week I had an abundance of apple harvest, so hey, why not an apple pie ! I posted a photo on my facebook page and I got so many recipe requests, I thought I’d better post it here on my blog.

The thing is, I never really follow a recipe. Some things, especially recipes, are handed down to me from my family just by watching (and enjoying them) and this one : the apple rum raising pie is one of them. Mind you, these handed down recipes from my grandma and my mother keep on getting different things added to it, and there it is: it becomes “my” recipe…which I will gladly “hand down” to you to have fun with and enjoy.

Have fun with it and most of all, it is not a hard recipe that requires you to have Heston Blumenthal skills…Bonus! lol

Here ‘s the recipe :

Yummy Apple Rum Raisin Pie
!

For the Filling:

600grams of cubed apple pieces , I prefer Granny Smith apples but any apple is good

1.5 generous cups of raisins

3 tbs of Rum (but you can use whisky or brandy as well, or if you do not want an alcoholic pick me upper, use rum essence)

2. place raisins, rum, cubed apples in bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over it, with the rum, nutmeg and the cinnamon and the sugar. Let it sit. If you want the taste to really be deep and yummy, let this mixture sit overnight!

3. Put the flour in a big bowl (or a foodprocessor) , add the salt and sugar. Blend thoroughly. Add small cubed pieces of the cold butter to the flour mixture and blend together until you get a nice crumbly texture. One tbsp at the time add the chilled water to bring it allo together and last but not least add the egg yolk to bind it all. Take the ball of dough and package it neatly in clingwrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

4. time to sip some rum ….waiting for the pastry to “mature”.

5. divide the pastry in two : one for the top an done for the bottom of the cake. Lay out a piece of clingwrap on your bench. Put the dough for the bottom on the bench and start hitting it to get it flat and rolling it out to fit your cake mold with enough dough to fit on the sides. You do not want to just have enough for the bottom : the apples need to be contained..lol. TIP: I put a layer of clingwrap on top of my dough when I start rolling (or beating it) this makes it easier to roll (it doesn’t stick everywhere!) AND most importantly, It is so much easier to lift the layer up and transport it to your cake tin !

6. Once the bottom pastry is in your tin, sprinkle a bit of bread crumbs on the bottom. This will help absorb the excess moisture of the filling. Repeat the same beating of the top layer of the pastry now and make sure you have enough t fit the top of your cake tin, it has to rest genty on the apple mix and you have to gently push the edges of sides and top layer together

7. Add the yummy apple rum raisin mix and even it out
8. drape the top layer of the pastry over the mix.
9. cut out little leave shaped openings and with a knife press a few leaf veins into the leafs and place on top of the pastry.
10. brush the pastry with the egg yolk
11. place in middle of the oven for 15mins
12. reduce the heat of the oven to 350F/180C an dcontinue to bake for another 40 minutes or until golden.
Let the pie cool down ..or ….grab a knife and cut yourself a piece.
Add cream and ice cream for a total decadent comfort feeling ! Enjoy!

This Apple Rum Raisin Pie should give you enough energy to tackle the following project like a Super Hero : the Magickal Earth Shawl !

This shawl is amazing ! the Pattern? Get yourself this awesome book : “Gathering of Lace” by Meg Swansen.
The name of the pattern is “Magickal Earth Shawl” by Sandy Terp (p.74, "Gathering of Lace", Meg Swansen. ISBN 1893762246)

This particular shawl pattern had caught my eye : celtic knots, unicorns, lots of beautiful symbolism. Only thing is: I am not a “beige” girl…I love my rainbows.
A good friend of mine suggested she would love to knit it for me with my long repeat yarn if I would make funky bunny batts for her. I could not get my batt machine working fast enough !
Elizabeth, you did an absolutely amazing job !!!! it is STUNNING ! I will wear and display it with pride and lots of love ! it is an heirloom piece for sure !!!

The yarn used in the original pattern is a very thin 2/48 yarn which was no longer available. The Rainbow Magickal Shawl was knitted with one skein of my looooong repeat rainbow lace weight yarn, 700meters/100g , around 330-350grams of it. Size is about 160cm/70” square !

The Celtic symbolism celebrates the earth; the never ending vine embracing all, the evergreen trees with their promise of immortality, the magic of the unicorn, the compass points and intertwined knots showing our interdependence on each other. The center circle shows the seas, the mountains, sky and, at the very centre, the feminine moon reminds us of the source of life and creativity.

I have some skeins of this gorgeous lace yarn enough for you to make this project (or any other happy project) in stock for tonight’s update! It is a wonderful yarn to work with and wears beautifully.

Long Repeat Rainbow Yarn

Huge Skeins of 330-350grams! With a meterage of 700m/100grams, one skein is about 2.5 kilometres of yarn !!!

AU$70

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!

Dates to put in your Calendar !!

May

Saturday 23rd, 10am-4pm

Victorian Hand Knitters Guild ShowCoburg Town Hall

THE extra ordinary super fluffy yarny event in Melbourne !!!
I will be there with lots of hand dyed tops for spinning and felting and happy rainbow yarn and sock yarn, some extra special art yarns and much much more!!!! As well as some amazing Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and bowls that are pure magic to spin on !

JULY

Friday July 17th- Sunday 19th, 9am-5pm

Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show

THE event of the year !!!! Not to be missed!! I will be there in the Flower (Power Bunny) Shed again with heaps of new goodies, hand dyed and hand spun, IxCHeL new blends and rare sheep breed adventures and much much more ! Including a world first of something AMAZING AND FUN!!!!! Shhh not telling ! but it is AWESOME !!!!

No comments:

Ixchel is an Australian Fibre Farm in the Yarra Valley in Victoria, breeding their own fluffy animals pesticide free and organic. Charly McCafferty (Ixchel Bunny) does all the spinning, dyeing, knitting and weaving and loving every second of it: Angora Rabbit, Cashmere, Mohair, Merino, Alpaca, Camel or even Yak.Paul McCafferty is constantly juggling work on the fibre farm and is the brain behind making all the animal housing and organising the farm harmoneously.
Email:Ixchel@rabbit.com.au

About Me

Email: ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.au
.
Born in the Netherlands, part Dutch and Native American, brought up in Europe, Canada ,the States and Latin America and now living in Australia, I see myself as a world citizen enjoying every moment that this life is giving me. Having such a diverse background I feel very priviledged on how it makes my art (be it paintings or wearable art) so universal and yet so special.